Effect of age, heart rate and tricuspid regurgitation on the Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular diastolic function

Pulsed-wave Doppler analysis of tricuspid inflow and hepatic venous flow al lows the determination of multiple parameters of right-ventricular (RV) dia stolic function. This study sought to evaluate the influence of heart rate, age and tricuspid regurgitation on Doppler parameters of RV diastolic perf ormance. We studied 80 subjects (20 normal and 60 with RV pathology) with D oppler recordings of the tricuspid inflow and hepatic vein. All tricuspid D oppler parameters were dependent on heart rate, age or regurgitation severi ty as were the hepatic vein S wave, S/D ratio and systolic filling fraction . The atrial reversal velocity in the hepatic vein Doppler tracing was not affected by age, heart rate or regurgitation. In addition, the inspiratory increase in this parameter was significantly elevated in RV pathologic stat es. This study demonstrates that most Doppler echocardiographic parameters of RV diastolic performance are dependent on age, tricuspid regurgitation o r heart rate. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.